Thinking of buying a used Mercedes?

During the pandemic prices of second hand cars increased significantly, mainly because new cars were in short supply.

The supply chain has now recovered and prices are starting to normalise but the new challenge is whether to buy a conventional car with an internal combustion engine or to take the leap and buy an electric vehicle.

There’s lots of data out there now to suggest that buying an electric vehicle as an individual with limited resources is only viable for a small percentage of the car owning public. Those of high net worth who only use their car for short journeys and even if the journey is long, have the time to spend planning the logistics and sitting around in service stations charging their car for an amount of time not available to the busy working man.                                        

Quite apart from the significantly reduced convenience of having to charge an electric car a lot more frequently than one might have to in order to re-fill a conventional car with fuel, the long term cost of ownership of an electric car is proving too difficult to contemplate for a lot of buyers.

The life of a car with an internal combustion engine can be many, many years given proper preventative maintenance but the life of a modern car is severely limited by the relatively short lifespan of a battery as compared to an internal combustion engine. Here at Colin Ferns Ltd we have seen written estimates for new batteries for four year old cars approaching £30,000.

This is simply beyond the purse of the average income earner and news of these enormous bills is permeating the mind of the used car buyer who are rightly and sensibly disinclined to invest their hard earned cash on a product that represents such a huge financial liability.

It’s a well established fact that nearly all new cars depreciate significantly in the first three years but people are used to being able to buy a three or four year old car for significantly less than the car cost new but still expect to enjoy economical and reliable ownership for many years to come.

Consequently, the market for a four year old electric car is very weak whereas the market for good used four year old cars with an internal combustion engine remains strong.

Many car manufacturers are now re-considering their long term approach to electric car manufacture and indeed quite a few are openly stating that they will continue to produce conventionally engined cars for many years to come.

If you are looking to sell you car or indeed buy yourself a used car, please do get in touch with us here at Colin Ferns Ltd and we’ll be delighted to assist you.